FAREWELL TO YESTERDAY’S TOMORROW ALEXEI PANSHIN Phoenix Pick an imprint of MANOR Rockville, Maryland Sky Blue, Lady Sunshine and the Magoon of Beatus and Farewell to Yesterday’s Tomorrow copyright © Alexei and Cory Panshin. All other material, with the exception of the cover, copyright © Alexei Pan- shin. All rights reserved. This book may not be copied or reproduced, in whole or in part, by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without written permission from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Manufactured in the United States of America. Cover Design copyright © Arc Manor, LLC Tarikian, TARK Classic Fiction, Arc Manor, Arc Manor Classic Reprints, Phoenix Pick, Phoenix Rider, Manor Thrift and logos associated with those imprints are trademarks or registered trademarks of Arc Manor Publishers, Rockville, Maryland. All other trademarks and trademarked names are properties of their respective owners. This book is presented as is, without any warranties (implied or otherwise) as to the accuracy of the production, text or translation. ISBN: 978-1-60450-264-0 Sky Blue, Lady Sunshine and the Magoon of Beatus and Farewell to Yesterday’s Tomorrow coauthored by Alexei and Cory Panshin www.PhoenixPick.com Great Science Fiction at Great Prices Visit the Author’s Website: http://www.panshin.com/ Published by Phoenix Pick an imprint of Arc Manor P. O. Box 10339 Rockville, MD 20849-0339 www.ArcManor.com Printed in the United States of America / United Kingdom For Ted White and Terry Carr HI “What’s Your Excuse?” fi rst published in Fantastic, © 1969, 1971, by Ultimate Publish- ing Co., Inc. “Th e Sons of Prometheus” in diff erent form and “Th e Destiny of Milton Gomrath” fi rst published in Analog, ©1966, 1967, by Condé Nast Publications, Inc. “A Sense of Direction” fi rst published in diff erent form in Amazing Stories, © 1969 by Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc . “How Georges Duchamps Discovered a Plot to Take Over the World” fi rst published in Fantastic, © 1969, 1971, by Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc. “One Sunday in Neptune” fi rst published in Tomorrow’s Worlds, © 1969 by Alexei Panshin. “Now I’m Watching Roger” fi rst published in Orbit 10, © by Damon Knight. “Arpad” fi rst published in Quark 2, © 1971 by Coronet Communications, Inc. “How Can We Sink When We Can Fly?” fi rst published in Four Futures, © 1971 by Alexei Panshin. “Sky Blue” fi rst published in Amazing Stories, © 1972, by Ultimate Publishing Co., Inc. “When the Vertical World Becomes Horizontal” fi rst published in Universe 4, © 1974 by Terry Carr. “Lady Sunshine and the Magoon of Beatus” fi rst appeared in Epoch, published by Berkley Publishing Corp. © 1975 by Robert Silverberg and Roger Elwood. “Farewell to Yesterday’s Tomorrow” fi rst published in Galaxy magazine, © 1974 by U.P.D. Publishing Corporation under International Universal and Pan-American Copyright Convention. Contents Preface What's Your Excuse? The Sons of Prometheus The Destiny of Milton Gomrath A Sense of Direction How Georges Duchamps Discovered a Plot to Take Over the World One Sunday in Neptune Now I'm Watching Roger Arpad How Can We Sink When We Can Fly? Sky Blue When the Vertical World Becomes Horizontal Lady Sunshine and the Magoon of Beatus Farewell to Yesterday's Tomorrow Preface he twelve science fi ction and fantasy stories and the fi nal essay that Tmake up this book are printed here in the order in which they were originally written. Th ey were fi rst published between 1966 and 1975, a tur- bulent time in this country, and a time of great changes in my own life. Th ese stories are both a product and a refl ection of their time. Th ese stories have been a means for me of wrestling with the enigma of being alive. Over and over again, each in its own way, they ask the same child- ish question: What does it mean to be an adult human being? So many questions that we ask when we are children are never answered. Th ey are indefi nitely postponed. Th is question—a child’s question—was mine. And it was never answered for me to my satisfaction. What is it to be an adult human being? It still seems to me to be as urgent a question as it ever was. In view of the desperation of the present human condition, a desperate question. If we human beings are to survive, we must know who we are and what we may become. Th e question is deliberately posed in the form of science fi ction. Science fi ction is a means of stepping outside ourselves and our present condition in search of new perception. If we already knew how to be truly adult, if we already knew how to be truly human beings, we would not be in our present diffi culties. Is our personal future and the future of mankind limited and cloudy? Th e answer indicated by science fi ction and by these stories is: only if we are un- able to change ourselves. If we could change ourselves, what might we not become? So here these stories are, from “What’s Your Excuse?” to “Lady Sunshine and the Magoon of Beatus.” A record of change and a promise of possiblity. —Alexei Panshin Elephant, Pennsylvania 7 What's Your Excuse? ooley’s beard and manner were all that you would expect of any Wpsychology instructor, particularly one who enjoys his work. He leaned back in his swivel chair, his feet on his desk, hands folded behind his neck, and looked at the graduate student who had been sharing his partition- board offi ce for the past two weeks. “I’m curious about you, Holland,” he said. “By my conservative estimate, ninety-fi ve percent of degree candidates in psychology are twitches. What’s your problem?” Th e room was only about eight feet wide. Holland’s desk faced the back of the cubicle, Wooley’s faced the door, and there was a narrow aisle between the two. Holland was a teaching assistant and was busy correcting a stack of papers. He looked warily up at Wooley, who had a certain reputation, and then returned his attention to his work. “No,” Wooley said expansively. “On the face of it, I would have said that you had a very low twitch rating.” Wooley’s reputation was half for being a thoroughgoing son of a bitch, half for being fascinating in the classroom. He had a fl amboyant, student- attracting personality that was great fun for those he didn’t pick for victims. Holland fi nished marking the paper and tossed it on the stack he had completed. Th en he said, “What is a twitch rating?” “Don’t you know that neuroses and psychoses are old hat? Th ey need a scientifi c replacement, and for that purpose I have devised the twitch rating. Radiation is measured in curies, noise is measured in decibels—now psycho- logical problems are measured in twitches. I’d rate you about fi ve. Th at’s very low, particularly for a psych student.” Holland fl ipped his red pencil to the side and leaned back. “You mean you really think that psych students are more . disturbed . than . ” “Th ey’re twitches,” Wooley corrected. “Th at’s why they’re psychology stu- dents. Th ey’re not twitchy because they’re psych students. What they want is to learn excuses for the way they act. Th ey don’t want to change it or even, I think, understand it. Th ey want to excuse it—you know, ‘Mama was a boozer, Daddy was a fl it, so how can I possibly help myself?’ Th ey learn all the reasons that there are for being twitchy and that makes them happy.” 9 Farewell to Yesterday’s Tomorrow Holland cleared his throat and leaned forward to recover his pencil. Hol- land was a very serious fellow and not completely sure just how serious Wool- ey was, and that made him ill-at-ease. “Isn’t it possible that you are mistaking an itch for a twitch?” he asked. “Th en if somebody scratches, you think he’s crazy. But what if their reason isn’t an excuse, what if there is a genuine cause and you just can’t see it? If you want a crude example, is a concentration-camp inmate a paranoid if he thinks that people are against him?” “No,” Wooley said. “Not unless he’s a graduate student in psychology. In that case I wouldn’t make any bets.” “Well, what are you doing here?” “I’m observing humanity, what else? Look, I’ll give you an example of a genuine, make-no-mistake-about-it, ninety-fi ve-rating, excuse-making twitch from right down the hall. Do you know Hector Leith?” “No. I haven’t been here long enough,” Holland said. “I don’t know every- body’s name yet, and I haven’t observed anybody twitching in the hall.” Wooley shook his head. “You’d better be careful. You’ve got the makings of a very sharp tongue there. Come along.” He swung his feet to the fl oor and led the way out into the hall. Holland hesitated for a moment and then shrugged and followed. Th e corridor ran between a double row of brown partition-board cubicles. On the walls of the corridor were photographs, a book-display rack, notices, and two plaques celebrating the accomplishments of the department’s bowling and softball teams. One of the photographs was of the previous year’s crop of graduate students.